Methods and apparatuses for multi-radio coexistence

Abstract

A method for coexistence radio communication systems is presented. In one embodiment, the method includes receiving a realtime frame synchronization signal and receiving one or more frame parameters. The method further includes determining, based at least on the frame synchronization signal and the frame parameters, estimated frame timing information and scheduling transmission based on the estimated frame timing information to avoid collision of the transmission and reception.

1 . A method for radio access technology comprising:
 receiving one or more realtime signals including a frame synchronization signal;   receiving one or more frame parameters;   determining, based at least on the frame synchronization signal and the frame parameters, estimated frame timing information;   scheduling transmission based on the estimated frame timing information to avoid collision of the transmission and reception.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the scheduling is by a first radio operable to schedule transmission within a transmission opportunity period (TXOP) and to determine a reception opportunity period, wherein the frame synchronization signal is from a second radio, co-located with the first radio, operable to send data during an uplink period (UL) and to receive data during a downlink period (DL), wherein the second radio communicate wirelessly over multiple sub-channels in an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) network. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 determining a DL start time which is a part of the estimated frame timing information; and   scheduling the transmission based at least on the DL start time such that the transmission end time is aligned to before DL start time, and a corresponding transmission acknowledgment is aligned to after the DL start time.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 determining a UL start time which is part of the estimated frame timing information;   determining a reception opportunity period based on the UL start time such that the reception opportunity end time is aligned to before the UL start time, whereas, an acknowledgment corresponding the reception opportunity period is aligned to after the UL start time; and   communicating the reception opportunity period to a remote entity as scheduling information.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising scheduling a TXOP to finish before the downlink period and an acknowledgement corresponding to the TXOP to begin after a UL start time. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 aligning a transmission period to the uplink period to prevent the transmission period overlapping with a downlink period; and   aligning a reception period to the downlink period to prevent the reception period overlapping with an uplink period.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising performing the transmission during a non-overlapping period between the transmission and a downlink period. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 2 , further comprising:
 performing the transmission during a part of the uplink period; and   performing reception during a part of the downlink period, without simultaneous transmission and reception by the first radio, wherein the first radio is a part of a multi-radio platform.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising determining whether to transmit or not based on whether a TXOP end time is before a DL start time, wherein duration of the TXOP is fixed. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising tweaking duration of a TXOP, if the duration of the TXOP is variable, such that the TXOP is within a first value and a second a value, the first value being the DL start time minus current time, the second value being the DL start time deducted by a sum of an uplink-downlink transition guard period, an inter-frame space period, and the current time. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising in conjunction with a channel access procedure, transmitting if a sum of current time and a TXOP is less than a following DL start time, otherwise, performing channel competition at a next available period rather than transmitting at the current time. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising in conjunction with a channel access procedure, attempting, with a probability, to transmit in a subsequent slot if duration of a TXOP is fixed and if a TXOP end time is less than a DL start time deducted by a sum of an uplink-downlink transition guard period and an interference space period. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising adjusting a TXOP to a shorter period or a longer period if it is a varying TXOP. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 2 , further comprising causing a remote entity, communicatively linked to the first radio, to transmit at a reduced modulation rate, wherein the first radio is operable to only acknowledge to data transmitted at the reduced modulation rate. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 2 , further comprising requesting a remote entity which communicates with the first radio, to transmit at a reduced modulation rate to enable both transmission and reception in an alternate manner by the first radio during a part of the uplink period. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , further comprising performing bidirectional packet exchange during a part of the uplink period. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 2 , further comprising:
 receiving a downlink active signal; and   preventing scheduling a transmission to occur at time when the downlink active signal is asserted.   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the frame parameters are non-realtime values including an offset, duration of a frame period, and a downlink-uplink ratio, the method further comprising:
 determining a DL start time based at least on the offset and a downlink frame synchronization signal; and   determining an UL start time based at least on the downlink-uplink ratio and the downlink frame synchronization signal.   
     
     
         19 . An apparatus supporting a first radio communicatively linked to a second radio which communicates during an uplink period and a downlink period, the first radio comprising:
 frame pattern logic operable to derive frame pattern information including at least start time of the downlink period, based at least in part on a realtime synchronization signal and non-realtime parameters; and   scheduling logic operable to increase non-overlapping time between a transmission and the downlink period based at least on the frame pattern information.   
     
     
         20 . The apparatus of  claim 19 , further comprising channel access logic operable to align transmission opportunity period (TXOP) to finish prior to a downlink period start time, if the TXOP is fixed. 
     
     
         21 . The apparatus of  claim 19 , wherein the scheduling logic is operable to increase or to decrease TXOP such that the end time of the TXOP is aligned with a downlink period start time. 
     
     
         22 . A multi-radio wireless communication system comprising:
 a WiFi radio module; and   a 4G radio module, wherein the 4G radio module includes a coexist controller that is operable to assert a frame synchronization signal, wherein the WiFi radio module is operable to estimate a downlink period start time based at least on the frame synchronization signal and is operable to determine time to perform a transmission so that the transmission ends before the downlink period start time.   
     
     
         23 . The multi-radio wireless communication of  claim 22 , wherein the WiFi radio module includes channel access logic operable to determine whether to perform transmission based at least on the downlink period start time, an offset value, current time, and duration of a transmission opportunity period. 
     
     
         24 . A method for radio access technology comprising:
 determining whether a coexistence mode is enabled;   generating a frame sync signal if the coexistence mode is enable, wherein the frame sync signal is for use by a proximate second radio to derive a start time of a downlink period; and   receiving data from a base station during the downlink period.   
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 24 , further comprising generating a downlink active signal to be sent to the proximate second radio, wherein the downlink active signal is indicative of active receiving duration of 4G radio.